It is well known that suicide rates in Japan are relatively high. Moreover, in Japan suicide has a different cultural status than in many Western countries, given that Japan is not a Christian country and that there are multiple examples of historical suicides that are presented as honorable deaths.
However, recent data have revealed that while the number of suicides among the middle aged and elderly are falling, the number of suicides among young people appears to be rising, making Japan the only nation in the G7 where suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 39.
2ch netizens, many of whom are thought to be in the most at-risk demographic, point to the pressure on young people to work hard and support the aging population as the cause of the high suicide rate, with others suggesting that the data are skewed.
From Nikkan-Spa.jp:
Suicide Among The Young In Japan Is The Highest In The G7. Why Are Japan’s Young People Choosing To Die?
The annual number of suicides in Japan is falling on the whole. Although for the 14 years following 1998 they number of people who committed suicide exceeded 30,000 people, since 2012 they have started to fall below 30,000 people, and according to police in 2014 the number of people who committed suicide was 25,218.
Still, it has to be said that suicides among young people are a serious issue. In Japan, the leading cause of death among people aged between 15 and 39 is suicide (broken down by gender, it is the leading cause of death for men aged between 15 and 44, and for women aged between 15 and 34).
There are a lot of organizations that focus on suicide prevention, such as “Life Line”.
Indeed, among the G7 nations it is only Japan whose leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 34 is suicide. The mortality rate from suicide in Japan is around twice that of America, France and Canada, and around three times that of Germany and the UK. It is four times that of Italy.
Graph showing a comparison of mortality rates in people aged between 15 and 34 in the G7. From the top the nations are: Japan, France, Germany, Canada, US, UK, and Italy. The black bar represents death from suicide; the gray bar represents accidental deaths. The numbers refer to the number of deaths per 100,000 people.
Researcher Yamauchi Takashi (cognitive behavioral sciences/ epidemiology) of the General Strategy Center For Suicide Prevention, which is part of the Research Institute for Mental Health at the National Psychological and Psychiatric Treatment Center, told us the following about the trend:
“In all the G7 nations apart from Japan, among young people, death from illnesses such as cancer or due to a road traffic accident is much more common than suicide. However, while the rate of suicides among the middle aged and elderly has fallen in Japan, this psychological weakness stands out among younger people. I wonder if this is because who don’t educate our young people on how to deal with stress as they do in other countries? It seems that the suicide rate among the middle aged and elderly will continue to fall, but among young people there is an upward trend. Furthermore, attempted suicides are not included in these numbers. In cases where people are rushed to hospital due to self-inflicted injuries there are usually more women, but when we include the attempted suicides among young people, the number seems pretty substantial.
Before people start to worry about suicide, we would like them to knock on the door of independent or volunteer organizations where they can discuss their feelings.
Comments from 2ch.net:
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中 :
Tell us something we don’t know.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
We shouldn’t be asking why. They’ve been asking why for years. (´･ω･`)
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
It’s better than hurting others.
If a steady number of us aren’t weeded out, then the world won’t go ‘round.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
It’s because of national policy.
People don’t have the strength to go on living.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中 :
It’s because the older generations are hanging on for dear life.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
Young people have their jobs and their money taken from them by the elderly.
From the moment they are born, they are 10,000,000 yen down.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
There’s so much suicide because Japan is a nation without a dream.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
Surely it’s much more of a problem when young people are dying from causes other than suicide? w
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
I suppose it’s because in Japan we have a lot of atheists.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
They’re just dealing with things by taking responsibility for themselves, without causing problems for the nation or other people.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
I bet it’s because of bullying.
I was bullied when I was young, but it was just physical violence. These days there’s psychological bullying, so I guess that’s why people choose suicide.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
Virtually all the other G7 nations are Christian countries…
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
Seems obvious given that all of society is throwing young people on the fire and living from their warmth.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
This is a country that sells its young down the river to make those old fogies and hags pointlessly live on.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
A lot of these guys kill themselves over stupid stuff, like because they were dumped by a girl, or because they got fired from work.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
They’re just choosing to die as humans instead of live as slaves.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
When even an expert sums up the reason for suicide as being a psychological weakness among young people, then there ain’t no cure…
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
It’s because in foreign countries you get killed or die from illness before you can commit suicide.
名無しさん＠5月17日まで板ルール集中議論中:
I guess these stats mean that in Japan the number of people who die from something other than suicide is extremely low.
Japan’s a safe country, and both traffic accidents and illness are few and far between.
